The grace of God, perseverance and the undying desire to improve the lives of her children are what keep Elise Johanna Oosthuizen (34), North-West University MBA (Masters in Business Administration) student, pressing forward until she reaches her academic goals.

From a poverty-stricken family, Elise says nothing could stand in her way to succeed and achieve her dreams. “From a very young age, I always believed that the only way to break out of poverty and have a stable life is through education,” she said. She always wanted a degree but never knew how difficult her journey would be to get it.

Elsie was born in Derdepoort but grew up on a farm in Rustenburg.

When she was in Hoërskool Rustenburg, her parents’ financial situation took a turn for the worst. However, she continued to see God’s hand in everything and changed her life. After she matriculated in 2005, Elise wanted to further her studies, but due to finances, she couldn’t. So she started working at the Thembelani Platinum Mine in Rustenburg, as a belt attendant.

To advance her career, she volunteered to do mining. Elise obtained a mining blasting certificate and became a miner. Year after year, she always applied for study assistance, hoping to be granted the opportunity to further her studies but her applications were unsuccessful. This didn’t stop her. She continued to improve her skills and gained more experience. In 2011, Elise was promoted as a human resources training practitioner.

Finally, her luck changed when she was awarded study assistance in 2014.

In 2015, she began her studies at NWU, where she studied her Bachelors in Training and Development in Human Resources Development. While there, she lost her study assistance and was obligated to pay for her studies.

During this period, things became more challenging. It was difficult to make ends meet and in her second year, Elise learnt that she was pregnant with her third child. “This pregnancy was complicated. I spent more time in and out of the hospital, but that did not stop me. I just told myself, come high or low, I had waited for more than 10 years to obtain a degree and nothing was going to stop me achieving that now,” she said.

Her baby was due in November 2016 and Elise thought she’d at least have time to complete her final exams before her baby was born. To her surprise, however, her daughter came a bit earlier than expected. Left with three more exams, she continued her journey to complete her studies. With her baby a few weeks old, she took her with to write her second-opportunity exams.

She passed all her modules and proceeded to her final year. With her husband at work, Elise sometimes attended classes with her children as she was determined to achieve her degree.

After resigning from her job in 2017, she moved to Potchefstroom and started working at NWU.

She obtained her qualification in 2018 and continued with her postgraduate diploma in Management with Business Administration, where she graduated with Cum Laude. In 2019, she was accepted to study for her MBA. During this time, her family experienced some pains and losses, but she drew strength from her family and her supervisor and mentor, Prof. Ronnie Lotriet.

She wants to thank her family, Prof. Lotriet, NWU Business School, the Faculty of Health Science, her colleagues and all those who have supported her throughout her journey.

She encourages people not to allow circumstances to hinder them from attaining their goals. “I had nothing – started with nothing. But God provided and carried me through it all and I am still going. Yes, storms will always be there, problems will always come unexpectedly, but if you have set your eyes on that goal, you will make it, no matter what. Whatever you want to be or do, you can do it by the grace of God”.